Pro Dive Cairns is the dive operator we send anyone who wants to actually learn — three-day liveaboard trips with up to 11 dives, plus a respected Open Water course that ends on the reef rather than in a swimming pool.

About Pro Dive Cairns

Pro Dive Cairns has been training PADI divers in Cairns since 1980 and runs one of the largest dive school operations on the Great Barrier Reef. The company holds PADI’s 5-Star Career Development Centre rating — the highest available — and over the years has trained thousands of professional dive instructors who now work all over the world.

Their core product is the three-day, two-night liveaboard trip aboard one of three vessels: ScubaPro III, Scuba Pro IV, or Scuba Pro V. The trips depart Cairns daily and visit nine different outer reef sites including Norman Reef, Saxon Reef and Hastings Reef — sites that day boats either don’t reach or only visit one of.

What to expect

A standard three-day trip gives certified divers up to 11 dives including two guided night dives — the night dives are the highlight for many guests, with sleeping parrotfish, reef sharks hunting, and the colour change of the soft corals under torchlight. Snorkellers are welcome too and have access to most of the same sites.

The vessels are working dive boats rather than luxury liveaboards — comfortable twin and quad-share cabins, hot freshwater showers, a saloon and a sun deck, but you’re here for the diving rather than the décor. Meals are buffet-style, plentiful and good. The dive crew runs a tight, safety-focused operation with detailed briefings before every dive.

Pro Dive’s five-day PADI Open Water course is a classic for backpackers — two days of pool and theory in Cairns followed by the three-day liveaboard, which means your four certification dives are in genuine outer-reef conditions rather than in a marina or a pool. By the end of the trip you’ve done nine dives total, which makes a real difference to your confidence.

Getting there & practical info

Pro Dive’s base is on Grafton Street in the Cairns CBD, about a 10-minute walk from Reef Fleet Terminal where the liveaboards depart. Most trips check in at the shop the day before departure for paperwork, kit fitting and a pre-trip briefing.

If you’re staying in Cairns city accommodation, you can walk. Northern Beaches guests usually drive in or use the public Sunbus service.

Quick tips from our team

  • Bring earplugs — twin-share cabins can be noisy
  • 5mm wetsuit in winter, 3mm shortie in summer — Pro Dive hires both
  • Pre-pay for nitrox if you'll do more than four dives a day
  • Pack a refillable water bottle; the boat has filtered water onboard
  • Don't plan to fly within 24 hours of your last dive — 48 if you're doing multiple-day diving

When to visit

Trips run year-round and pricing is fairly consistent across seasons. June to October is winter dry season — calmer water, better visibility, but cooler (a 5mm wetsuit is sensible). November to April is wet season — warmer water at 28°C, occasional summer storms, and coral spawning following the November full moon.

Open Water courses fill up fastest in May–September and January, when international backpackers are most concentrated in Cairns. Book at least a fortnight ahead in those windows.

Why our team rates Pro Dive Cairns

If you’re certified and you want maximum dives per day, this is the operator. Eleven dives across three days, multiple night dives, and the kind of variety you don’t get on day trips. The crew is genuinely experienced — most of them have logged thousands of dives on this reef — and their briefings teach you things you’ll use on every future dive.

For Open Water training, Pro Dive is also our pick. There are cheaper courses in Cairns but most do the certification dives on day trips or close to shore. Getting trained on the outer reef from a liveaboard is a fundamentally better introduction to diving.